Foundation Scotland has awarded £2.7million to charities, community groups and social enterprises across the north and north-east during the past financial year – making up 8% of total funds across the country.
The community foundation, celebrating its silver anniversary today, supports companies, individuals, families and community bodies, enabling them to set up or manage charitable funds – large or small.
In total it has distributed more than £130 million across Scotland thanks to donors who support the foundation’s work.
It specialises in supporting charitable initiatives within communities, and in a typical year, the funder supports an average of 2,000 charitable projects and services, from food banks to counselling services, to youth groups and education and training funds.
£694,000 of crisis funding delivered
Vicki Corbett, Foundation Scotland development manager, said: “It’s been the busiest time we’ve had in the last 18 months to two years.
“We’ve distributed more funds across Scotland than we ever have. It’s gone right from the top of the country down to the borders.
“The pandemic had a massive impact and it really made people start thinking about things differently, certainly for services.
“We’d love to keep broadening out the companies and people that we work with.”
Caledonian MacBrayne onboard
More recently, Foundation Scotland launched the CalMac Community Fund on behalf of Caledonian MacBrayne and the PHP Community Impact Fund on behalf of Primary Health Properties.
Gordon McKillop, CalMac Ferries corporate social responsibility manager, said “We are pleased to be working with Foundation Scotland to deliver the CalMac Community Fund for the benefit of people living in our west coast network.
“The CalMac Community Fund is benefitting from Foundation Scotland’s experience and professional approach, which will, in turn, drive positive social outcomes for our communities.”
From an initial group of three staff, the foundation now has over 30 managing around 100 different national and local funding programmes each year.
Giles Ruck, Foundation Scotland chief executive, said: “For 25 years, we’ve maintained the vision of supporting confident, thriving, resilient communities across Scotland.
“And for every community to thrive, it should be resourced to match its vision and powered by transformative funding. That’s where we come in.
“We make sure that all donated funds make a real difference to the people and communities requiring help.
“As we look ahead, we will continue to work hard to reach and connect with new donors keen to distribute funds effectively at a local level so that together we can continue to deliver extraordinary support.”